Balanced WeightMind/Body Types
According to Ayurveda, different mind/body types have different body shapes and sizes that are natural — and healthful – for that particular physiology. The whole goal of Ayurveda is simply to maintain or restore one’s natural balance. As one restores balance, weight will naturally shift back to what is normal for that particular physiology.
Of utmost importance in maintaining balance is keeping the channels of circulation in the body clear. One specialty of Ayurveda is Panchkarma. These specialized treatments help “chisel away” impurities and toxins that have been slowly building up in the body over years.
Sticking to a diet and losing weight can be difficult. Almost everyone is concerned by maintaining an ideal body weight. Either we want to lose weight or we want to put on. 
But eating healthy is much more than just the process of choosing the right diet and supplements.
Ayurveda in general, and Maharishi Ayurveda in particular, has much to teach us about optimal health. Ayurveda is an ancient and complete science of health. Its origins go back thousands of years. A timeless wisdom, it is one of the most complete and effective systems of natural health care. So how do we control abnormal food cravings and plan a balanced diet?
First, it is useful to understand your body type. Ayurveda talks about “vata,” pitta” and kapha” as being the basic mind-body types. Put another way that is psycho-physiological constitutional types. The kapha type tends to put on weight just looking at food. The vata type often struggles to put on weight. The pitta type is easily aggravated by heat and hot spicy foods.
Understanding and balancing your body type is one of the keys to choosing a diet and routine that suits you.
Do our Dosha Quiz to determine which dosha needs balancing most and underpins your weight concerns. Below are self management tips for all 3 doshas and their specific weight management needs.
We often eat to satisfy emotional hunger. How often have you put your hand in the fridge because you were feeling upset?
Estimating how hungry you are is one of the keys to deciding when and how much to eat. In general one should be eating three meals, a light breakfast (optional), a substantial mid-day meal, and a light supper. Supper is light, easy to digest, and early. Not going to bed on a full tummy is important.
A useful way of not overeating is to balance the six ayurvedic tastes: sweet, sour, salty, pungent, bitter and astringent. And the tastes are not always what you would expect. For instance most fruit is regarded as sour, not sweet. And some foods do not combine well on this basis – for instance, ayurveda teaches us it is not good to combine milk (sweet) with fruit (sour), except mango, which is regarded as sweet.
The penalty for ignoring the wisdom of ayurveda is the creation of undigested residues known as “ama”. Ama is not good! Elimination of ama is one of the aims of panchakarma rejuvenation therapy.
Weight gain management for Vata Imbalances
Vata-predominant people are susceptible to mental stress because they tend to overuse or misuse their minds. When under stress they also tend to forget to eat regularly, thus disturbing their digestion, creating ama (toxins)and clogging the channels. This is often the precursor to weight gain. For a Vata imbalance, the most important thing is to reduce mental stress and to nourish the body with light, easily digestible food at regular times. To reduce mental stress, you can practice the Transcendental Meditation® program, which has been proven in hundreds of scientific studies to be the most effective technique for dissolving mental, emotional and physical stress. It only takes twenty minutes twice a day and will balance your nervous system so you actually desire food that’s good for you so its effect on improving the quality of life is enormous. When our stress levels are low self discipline is high. A balanced mind and body generate balanced healthy desires.
Weight loss management for Vata imbalances
If you are Vata-predominant body type you are normally thin and wiry. But that does not mean weight gain will never be a problem for you. Sometimes Vata types are thin all their lives and then suddenly put on weight because their metabolism has changed.
Anyone with a vata imbalance whether they have a vata predominant body type or will be prone to being under weight.
Question: I am a very active Pitta-Vata person. I have a good appetite and eat heavy “Kapha” foods with a view to gaining weight, but have not been successful so far. What should I do?
Answer: Sometimes, when a Pitta-Vata person exercises a lot, it can over stimulate the metabolism.
You could try eating sweet juicy fruits and dates or soaked nuts in-between meals. Black gram is also excellent for people trying to gain weight. It is sold in Indian grocery stores as uard dahl. You can soak it overnight then cook it into a thick soup with rice and vegetables and spices. Black gram, however, is hard to digest so often we suggest mung dahl as a substitute. If you digest it well, it can help build muscle mass and stamina. It is also Vata pacifying. You should season it with Pitta Churna and pacifying spices such as fennel, coriander and turmeric.
Diet and lifestyle tips:
* Boil some milk. When it is still warm, add a couple of chopped dates and a bit
of clove to it. Blend into a frothy shake and drink once or twice a day
* Give yourself a full-body ayurvedic oil massage with Vata Massage Oil or sesame oil. It is soothing for Vata and will tone your muscles. After 20 mins shower or take a warm bath.
* Exercise after you are done with your Ayurvedic Abyunga oil massage.
Weight Loss Management for Pitta related problems
The second type of overweight imbalance occurs when a person has long-term ama build-up and the channels around the stomach area have been clogged, creating too much heat in the body.
Here, the appetite may be very high and the individual may experience a lot of thirst. The person may also experience heartburn or other pitta aggravated imbalances, such as skin rashes, irritability and impatience. Do our quiz to test your health and check which type of imbalance you currently have.
Instead of Be Trim Tea, an herbalized water consisting of small amounts of fenugreek, coriander, licorice root and fennel should be taken during the day.
The herbalized water assists the thermogenic process:
– fenugreek burns fat and helps absorption,
– coriander eliminates toxins,
– licorice is cooling and
– fennel helps with digestion.
To make the water,
Boil 1 litre of water and pour into a thermos.
Add:
2 pinches ground fenugreek,
2 pinches licorice root pieces,
1/4 teaspoon whole coriander seeds, and
1/4 teaspoon fennel seeds.
Drink throughout the day after straining out the seeds and disguarding.
This Pitta Program calls for moderate exercise, about 30 minutes 3-4 times a week, choose your exercise from the following: brisk walking, yoga, pilates, swimming, and light weight training.
* Eat lots of sweet juicy fruits.
* These individuals do well on a pitta-pacifying diet, and include squash, warm
milk, and homemade butter-milk in their diet plus lassi.
* Stewed prunes and figs can be eaten on the weekends to provide a gentle
laxative therapy without disturbing pitta.
* A self-massage called “abhyanga” with Organic Coconut Oil or Olive oil will
help to further balance pitta.
* It is also recommended to use a spice mixture of 1 part turmeric, 2 parts cumin, 3
parts coriander, and four parts fennel to be cooked with vegetables or legumes.
Beating Stress
Common to both Vata and Pitta weight imbalances is overeating due to emotional stress.
This can manifest as eating when you are not hungry or looking for something sweet to pacify a bad mood.
If this is the case, it is recommended you snack on:
– A teaspoon of Rose Petal Preserve(available through our Consultants or www.mapi.com.au), Be Trim Tea, one date, a sweet juicy pear if in season or a little lassi will also help if you experience sugar cravings.
– Practicing stress reducing techniques such as Transcendental Meditation®, or
doing yoga asanas is also effective.
– Abyunga oil massage at least once a week, regular exercise and surrounding
yourself with positive people are other practical tips to overcome emotional
overeating.
Maharishi Ayurveda also recommends:
* avoiding commercial protein powder drinks. Instead eat live protein filled with the
intelligence of nature from almonds (skinned and no more than 10 per day), walnuts,pine nuts, legumes, sunflower seeds, sesame seeds, pumpkin seeds and milk products.
The following are very practical, general recommendations regarding weight management:
* Limit fat intake to 2 teaspoons of Ghee or olive oil per day (1 teaspoon at lunch
and 1 teaspoon at dinner).
* For lunch and dinner, eat 50% vegetables, 20% power grains such as quinoa,
whole barley, oats, millet, or amaranth, and 30% protein, such as lentils, paneer,
and nuts.
* A small cup of lassi at lunch and dinner to help with vitamin B-12 if you are a vegetarian and to help balance Pitta dosha.
* Avoid cold beverages, aged cheese, potatoes, yeasted breads, butter, cookies,
cakes, ice cream, chocolates, deep fried foods, cream sauces and reduce
your intake of rice.
* For breakfast, eat stewed apples and/or pears.
* Do not skip meals.
* Eat your largest meal at lunch and have a smaller dinner eaten before 7 p.m.
The Maharishi Ayurveda weight management system gets to the root of the problem by balancing fat and carbohydrate metabolism to help your body break down your stores of fat, so you’ll have more energy;
The Ayurvedic Naturally Trim system works by slowing down the digestion of carbohydrates, so you don’t crave sweets and overeat; and maintain a good appetite, so you absorb the nutrients you need to stay healthy and balanced.
Patience is also one of the key factors that should be included in this program. This is not a fast method to shed pounds but a holistic approach from which you will see satisfying results gradually. Once the digestive fire is strong and the metabolic processes are balanced, then you can enjoy a little more flexibility with your diet. Find a practitioner to utilise this program to balance weight and be naturally trim.
Weight Loss and Management for Kapha related problems
The problem with most weight control programs is that they focus on suppressing the appetite. This actually has the effect of slowing down fat metabolism. And, if your body doesn’t assimilate fat and carbohydrates effectively, fat and impurities will accumulate and end up as excess weight.
Fat Metabolism is the Key.
The Be Trim System gets to the root of the problem by balancing fat and carbohydrate metabolism to help your body:
* Break down your stores of fat, so you’ll have more energy.
* Slow down the digestion of carbohydrates, so you don’t crave sweets and
overeat.
* Maintain a good appetite, so you absorb the nutrients you need to stay healthy
and balanced.
* Cook with our Ayurvedic dosha balancing spice mixes or ‘churna’ seasoning to help balance your diet.
* Drink Be Trim™ Tea to satisfy food cravings without making you feel jittery.
* Give yourself a dry massage with the Silk Garshan Gloves to gently improve
circulation and break down cellulite.
* Follow the diet and lifestyle recommendations for the Be Trim System which your consultant will tailor to your needs.
Dietary Recommendations:
– At meals, only eat until you are about 3/4 full.
– Reduce heavy foods such as red meat, leftovers and deep-fried food.
– Favor light, nutritious foods.
– Fill up on sweet, juicy fruits( not banana) and vegetables.
– Add barley soup and mung bean soup to your diet.
– Cook with fennel, cumin and turmeric or the churnas.
– Avoid cold drinks and food. Be sure to eat sweet, juicy fruits daily.
Lifestyle Recommendations:
* Exercise regularly, but moderately.
* Don’t divide your attention by reading, working or watching TV while you are
eating.
* Savor your meals.
* Avoid day sleep.
Here are two discussions of weight management systems offered by Maharishi Ayurveda:
Kapha-Related Weight Imbalance
“The first type of overweight imbalance is due to a lack of digestive fire (low agni) and lack of metabolism. These individuals, even though they may eat very small amounts of food, tend to gain weight. This type of person seems to gain weight just by being around food.
Two things are occurring with this type of imbalance; digestive impurities are being created and fat tissue is accumulating in the body. Also, the formation of bone tissue is slowed down due to increase of fat tissue. This is a very common weight problem and the solution is to follow an ama (toxins) burning program”. \
You can enhance the elimination of ama (toxins) by taking Maharishi Ayurveda
Individuals on the ama burning diet should participate in an exercise program for 30 minutes each day: brisk walking or other activities such as dancing, swimming or weight training.
Exercise helps to burn ama and increases circulation and metabolism.
For the diet, eat foods that reduce kapha, favoring astringent, bitter, and pungent tastes and reducing salty, sweet, and sour foods.
A morning massage called garshan can be done with silk gloves to help stimulate digestion or agni and increase circulation.
Once a week, preferably on the weekend, as a gentle cleansing therapy, eating only light freshly cooked vegetable soups, herbal tea and kanji water is recommended. This helps to further eliminate toxins. The Kapha Churna (Spices) also help increase metabolism as well as energy levels. Kapha Tea will also assist in the same process and is really delicious.
The following are very practical, general recommendations regarding weight management:
* Limit fat intake to 2 teaspoons of Ghee or olive oil per day (1 teaspoon at
lunch and 1 teaspoon at dinner).
* For lunch and dinner, eat 50% vegetables, 20% power grains such as quinoa,
whole barley, oats, millet, or amaranth, and 30% protein, such as lentils, paneer
(fresh cheese), and nuts.
* Two (2) cups of hot or warm milk a day are recommended, and a small cup of
lassi at lunch to help with vitamin B-12 if you are a vegetarian and to help
balance Pitta dosha which governs your digestion.
* Barley water or kanji water is recommended during the day to help cleanse the
system, give energy, and help with hunger.
* Avoid cold beverages, aged cheese, potatoes, yeasted breads, butter, cookies,
cakes, ice cream, chocolates, deep fried foods, and cream sauces and reduce
your intake of rice.
* For breakfast, eat stewed apples and/or pears.
* Do not skip meals.
* Eat your largest meal at lunch and have a smaller dinner eaten before 7 p.m.
* Do not eat anything after 8 p.m.
The Maharishi Ayurveda weight management system gets to the root of the problem by balancing fat and carbohydrate metabolism to help your body break down your stores of fat, so you’ll have more energy; slow down the digestion of carbohydrates, so you don’t crave sweets and overeat; and maintain a good appetite, so you absorb the nutrients you need to stay healthy and balanced.
Patience is also one of the key factors that should be included in this program. This is not a fast method to shed pounds but a holistic approach from which you will see satisfying results gradually. Once the digestive fire is strong and the metabolic processes are balanced, then you can enjoy a little more flexibility with your diet.
We offer the below courses on weight management
Learn more in our Diet, Digestion and Nutrition 16 Lesson Course which covers the key points for ideal weight and good digestion and is conducted by our expert Maharishi Ayurveda Practitioner’s at locations all over Australia. It cultures the ability to listen to the body’s signals, control abnormal food cravings and plan a balanced diet. It is a very comprehensive and detailed summary of all you need to know to adopt the main principles of the Ayurvedic health system. Just find your local practitioner to schedule your course.
We also offer an online Naturally Trim Course
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